Suri tribal warrior from Omo Valley, Ethiopia drinking cow blood as his morning breakfast. Cattle are enormously important to the Suri. They do not see cattle simply as a material asset but as a life-sustaining and meaningful companion. Suri even sing songs in praise of their cattle and make fires to warm them. They even mourn their cattle when they die.
Cows also have a social and symbolic meaning in Suri’s society.
Suri men are judged on how much cattle they own. In desperate times, Suri men can risk their lives to steal cattle from other tribes. Cattle ownership bring status; when two Suri meet they'll ask each other how many cows they have. Cows are a store of wealth to be traded, and a source of milk and blood which the Suri drink daily.
Bleeding a cow is more efficient than slaughtering it for meat, and blood can be drawn during the dry season when there's less milk. An animal can be bled once a month, from the jugular.
The animals aren't generally sold or killed for meat, though they are slaughtered for certain ceremonies. They are treated with reverence. Fires are lit to keep them warm and to protect against insect bites, they are covered with ash. Every boy is given a young bull to look after when he reaches the age of 8, and his friends call him the name of his bull.
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